Gad Saad

Canadian marketing professor (born 1964)

Gad Saad

Saad in 2010

Born|  (1964-10-13) 13 October 1964 (age 60)

Beirut, Lebanon

Nationality| Lebanese, Canadian
Education| McGill University (BSc, MBA)
Cornell University (MSc, PhD)
Scientific career
Fields| Marketing, consumer behaviour
Institutions| Concordia University
Thesis| The adaptive use of stopping policies in sequential consumer choice (1994)
Doctoral advisor| Edward Russo

YouTube information

Channel|

* GadSaad

Subscribers| 313 thousand[1]
Views| 34.9 million[1]

* * *

Last updated: August 31, 2024
Website| gadsaad.com

Gad Saad (/ˈɡæd ˈsæd/; Arabic: جاد سعد, Hebrew: גד סעד; born 13 October 1964) is a Canadian marketing professor at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University.[2] He has argued for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour.[3][4] He wrote a blog for Psychology Today and hosts a podcast titled "The Saad Truth".

## Early life and education

[edit]

Saad was born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon, he is of Lebanese Jewish and Syrian Jewish ancestry.[5] His family fled in October 1975 to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to escape the Lebanese Civil War.[6] His elder brother, David, is a judoka who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics.[7] His nephew Ariel Helwani is a mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist.[8]

He obtained a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and an M.B.A. in Marketing from McGill University, and an M.S. in Management and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Cornell University.[9]

Saad is an atheist who describes himself as culturally Jewish.[10]

## Career

[edit]

Saad has been a professor of marketing at Concordia University since 1994. From 2008 until 2018, he held the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption. He has also held visiting professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, University of California, Irvine and Northwood University (currently). He was an associate editor for the journal Evolutionary Psychology from 2012 to 2015.[11] He is an advisory fellow for the Centre for Inquiry Canada.[12] Saad wrote a blog for Psychology Today titled Homo Consumericus from 2008 until 2020,[13] and contributed to The Wall Street Journal in 2011.[14]

Saad hosts a YouTube show titled The Saad Truth. As of February 2021, his channel has received more than 22 million views.[15]

## Research

[edit]

Saad has researched how hormones affect and are affected by consumer behavior, such as how conspicuous consumption affects testosterone levels,[16][17] how testosterone levels affect risk-taking,[18][19][20] and how hormones in the menstrual cycle affect buying decisions.[21][22] He has also researched how men and women differ in gift giving behaviors.[23][24][25][26]

## Coverage and interviews

[edit]

Saad was profiled in the Toronto Star in 2016. Saad has appeared on Sam Harris's Making Sense podcast (then titled Waking Up).[15]

## Bibliography

[edit]

### Books

[edit]

* Saad, G. (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 9780805851502. Book review[27]
* Saad, G. (ed.) (2011). Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 9783540927839. Book review[28][29]
* Saad, G. (2011). The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781616144296. Book review[30]
* Saad, G. (2020). The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 9781621579595.
* Saad, G. (2023). The Saad Truth About Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 9781684515288.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "About GadSaad". YouTube.
2. ^ "Do Great Minds Think Alike? The Impact Of Culture On Your Creative Thinking Skills". Medical Daily, 22 May 2015 By Lizette Borreli
3. ^ "Do human instincts explain what we buy, and why we want it?". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 13 July 2011.
4. ^ Engber, Daniel (17 November 2015). "Does It Feel Better To Give Or Receive A Gift?". Popular Science.
5. ^ On Behalf of My Ancestors and Those of My Wife, Please Accept This Apology (THE SAAD TRUTH_1247), 18 May 2021, retrieved 8 February 2024
6. ^ "Story Profile - Passages Canada". passagestocanada.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
7. ^ "Gad Saad on Growing up in Lebanon, the Olympics, and Cultural Homophily". The Rubin Report. 17 August 2016.
8. ^ Lazarus, David (13 January 2011). "Montreal native is a mixed martial arts broadcaster". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
9. ^ "Gad Saad". leighbureau.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
10. ^ Zeitlin, Alan (26 May 2021). "Jewish author Gad Saad stares down the growing tide of antisemitism". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
11. ^ "Gad Saad Ph.D. | Psychology Today".
12. ^ "Gad Saad, PhD". Concordia University. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
13. ^ "Homo Consumericus". Psychology Today. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
14. ^ Saad, Gad (21 June 2011). "The Consuming Instinct". The Wall Street Journal.
15. ^ a b "Montreal professor known as 'The Gadfather' argues against political correctness". Toronto Star, Giuseppe Valiante. Canadian Press. 30 October 2016
16. ^ Saad, Gad; Vongas, John G. (2009). "The effect of conspicuous consumption on men's testosterone levels". Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 110 (2): 80–92\. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.06.001.
17. ^ "Testosterone drives men to buy fast cars". CBC News. 14 October 2009.
18. ^ Stenstrom, Eric; Saad, Gad; Nepomuceno, Marcelo; Mendenhall, Zack (2011). "Testosterone and domain-specific risk: Digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of recreational, financial, and social risk-taking behaviours". Personality and Individual Differences. 51 (4): 412–416\. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.07.003.
19. ^ Stenstrom, Eric; Saad, Gad (2011). "Testosterone, Financial Risk-Taking, and Pathological Gambling". Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics. 4 (4): 254–266\. doi:10.1037/a0025963.
20. ^ "Le succès au bout de l'index - ICI.Radio-Canada.ca". Radio-Canada.ca. 9 November 2010.
21. ^ Saad, Gad; Stenstrom, Eric (2011). "Calories, beauty, and ovulation: The effects of the menstrual cycle on food and appearance-related consumption". Journal of Consumer Psychology. 22: 102–113\. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.10.001.
22. ^ "8 Dating Lies Men And Women Tell". Huffington Post. 26 March 2013.
23. ^ Laroche, Michel; Saad, Gad; Browne, Elizabeth; Cleveland, Mark; Kim, Chankon (2000). "Determinants of In-Store Information Search Strategies Pertaining to a Christmas Gift Purchase". Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. 17 (1): 1–19\. doi:10.1111/j.1936-4490.2000.tb00203.x.
24. ^ Laroche, Michel; Saad, Gad; Cleveland, Mark; Browne, Elizabeth (2000). "Gender Differences in Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift". Journal of Consumer Marketing. 17 (6): 500–522\. doi:10.1108/07363760010349920.
25. ^ Laroche, Michel; Saad, Gad; Kim, Chankon; Browne, Elizabeth (2000). "A Cross-Cultural Study of In-Store Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift". Journal of Business Research. 49 (2): 113–126\. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00008-9.
26. ^ Gad Saad, Tripat Gill (2003). "An evolutionary psychology perspective on gift giving among young adults". Psychology and Marketing. 20 (9): 765–784\. doi:10.1002/mar.10096. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012.
27. ^ Griskevicius, Vladas (2008). "DEFINE_ME_WA". Ehbonline.org. 29 (4): 297–298\. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.006.
28. ^ Patrick A. Stewart (2013). "Book Review: Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences". Politics and the Life Sciences. 32 (2): 130–133\. doi:10.2990/32_2_130. S2CID 145406315.
29. ^ Jevons, Colin (2013). "The Consuming Instinct by Gad Saad. Published by Prometheus Books, 2011 in New York, NY". Psychology & Marketing. 30 (3): 293. doi:10.1002/mar.20605.
30. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature by Gad Saad. Prometheus, $25 (340p) ISBN 978-1-61614-429-6". PublishersWeekly.com. June 2011.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gad Saad.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Gad Saad.

* Official website
* Gad Saad's channel on YouTube

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